In July[1] b2b smart access startup Latch announced a partnership with ecommerce platform Jet.com to install 1,000 of its smart locks on residential apartment buildings in New York. It’s now announced[2] the first “secure, unattended deliveries” enabled by the installations.
Writing in the customary Medium post[3], co-founder Luke Schoenfelder says Latch-enabled unattended deliveries kicked off on Monday — and are currently available for “thousands” of New Yorkers (though installations attached to this partnership are still continuing, so it’s not yet completed the full batch).
“Thousands of people in New York City are able to order anything they want from our partners online and know that they can return home to their packages without the threat of theft, inclement weather, or the dreaded ‘sorry we missed you’ door tag,” says Schoenfelder.
“While it may seem like a straightforward idea, executing on this user experience has been surprisingly complex. It has taken us just over four years to perfect and actualize this experience for customers, building owners, and partners, including countless hours of product research, hundreds of people, and millions of dollars in development to make this moment possible,” he adds.
Some of those Latch development dollars have been spent part-funding installations of the smart lock hardware. And it’s clearly hoping the product will get to work marketing the benefits of smart access to convince more building owners to sign up.
On the smart lock front, it’s always looked like a challenge for consumer targeting startups in the space to convince masses of individuals to manage the risk and complexity of a smart lock installation in their own home. (See: August Home selling to a veteran lock giant earlier this month[4], for example.)...
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